Beijing
is the capital of the People’s Republic of China and
it is
China’s political and
cultural center. It covers an area of 16,808 square
kilometres and has a population of over 11 million,
among which urban dwellers amount to 73.1 percent.

Beijing is located on the west coast of
the Pacific, stands at the northern tip of the North
China plain. It is situated at 39.6’ north latitude
and 116.0’ east longitude, with the Shanxi and Inner
Mongolian plateaus to the west and northwest, and
with Bohai Sea to the east.

Beijing is surrounded by the Yanshan
Mountains on the west,
north and east while the small alluvial plain of the
Yongding River lies to its southeast. Beijing stands
on his terrain and faces the Bohai Sea, which is also
called the Beijing Bay.

In China, Beijing is one of the four
municipalities directly under the central
government, and it is divided into 12 districts and
6 counties.

Beijing enjoys a moderate continental
climate. The average yearly rainfall is about 600 to
700 millimetres. Much of it falls in the late June,
July and August. Spring in Beijing is dry and dusty,
summer rainy, winter long, sunny and dry. The best
season to visit Beijing, as many other parts of
China, is autumn.

Archaeological discovery has shown that
Beijing is a cradle of the Chinese nation. It is
here that the "Peking Man" -- an ancestor of the
ancient Chinese nation -- multiplied about
half a million years ago. About 3,000 years ago,
Beijing became an important town in North China. In
the 11th century B.C., a northern kingdom called Yan
established its capital in Beijing, which was then
known as "Yanjing". Later, the Kin, Yuan, Ming and
Qing Dynasties (1115-1911) all made Beijing their
capital, so that it served as China’s political
center for 700 years. Construction during various
feudal dynasties has left Beijing a host of
historical and cultural relics, imperial palaces and
gardens, imperial residences, temples, pavilions,
archways and stone carvings. These, unique in the
world, have earned Beijing the name of a historical
and cultural treasure house. Since New China was
founded in 1949, Beijing has undergone new changes
and become a modern city.